President Buhari cautions commission against corrupt practices ahead of pilgrimage

oge okonkwo

July 2, 2015 4:15 PM

NAHCON chairman, Abdullahi Mukhtar, who gave the hint after meeting with the president behind closed-doors said Buhari granted all the requests from the National Hajj Commission in respect to the preparations for 2015 pilgrimage

Muhammadu Buhari

Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, July 1, directed the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to collaborate with other agencies involved in Hajj operations to stop corrupt practices.

NAHCON chairman, Abdullahi Mukhtar, who gave the hint after meeting with the president behind closed-doors said Buhari granted all the requests from the National Hajj Commission in respect to the preparations for 2015 pilgrimage.

Mukhtar said, “He (Buhari) directed for inter-agency collaboration between the commission and all other relevant agencies to address the challenges and menace of corruption-related practices that have to do with hajj and umrah and thus we will face it headlong until we bring it to a standstill.”

Noting that the corruption related issues were many, he cited instances where people pay for services that were in some cases never rendered.

The NAHCON chairman said, “In some cases,they don’t even have the chance to perform the Hajj or umrah at all, their money is gone, and illegal operators that are not licensed to carry out the activities of either umrah or Hajj still play around and carry out their activities with impunity, so all these will be addressed.”

He also noted that the president approved the 2015 air carriers that were going to airlift about 76,000 Nigerian pilgrims, adding that the list would be sent to the states accordingly for the pilgrims to select the airlines of their choices.

The approved air lines include Max Air, Medview Airlines, Kabo Air, Planet Air, Skypower Express, Dornier Aviation, Top Brass and Hak Air.

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